Archibald McDonald's father was apparently an ANGUS MAC/MCDONALD who was born somewhere in Scotland abt 1793-1794. Whom, when and where he married is unknown, as is how and when he came to Nova Scotia, Canada. He died in Westchester, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia in 1874 at age 80. We believe Angus a brother Alexander (born abt 1806 in Scotland), and he may have had another son, Donald who died on Dec 6, 1907 age 58 in Springhill Junction, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. According to various Census records, "Uncle Alexander" lived with Archibald & Agnes (Rushton Colborne) until he died between 1881-1891. We had originally thought that this Alexander was Archibald's father, but according to a family member, this is not the case.

Fred W. McDonald (June 25, 1921 - May 12, 2002) was my husband's grandfather and was born in the Springhill area and moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba at a young age. His ancestors (mostly from the Westchester & River Philip, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia areas) were:

Archibald McDonald (mentioned above) & Agnes Rushton [Colborne] McDonald - Fred's Grt Grandparents. We located Archibald's obituary which gleaned quite a bit of info, but no mention of his parents or where they came from:

**OBIT - Archibald MacDONALD - Nov. 23, 1922There passed away from his earthly dwelling place following a brief illness from pneumonia, Archibald McDONALD, who died at the home of his son Charles McDONALD, Glenville, Cumberland County, at the advanced age of 80 years. Deceased was born of Scotch parentage at Westchester, in the county and afterwards settled in the River Philip Valley, being one of the pioneer residents of that community, once the shire village of the county and the seat of justice for the county. He was an industrious farmer, loyal citizen, also ardent supporter of the old political school of Liberal-Conservatism, as taught in the days of Sir Charles TUPPER, beside whom he lived for many years [We'd really be interested in a photo of this home or at least its physical address]. A follower of the Presbyterian form of church creed and known always as a staunch advocate of all that pertained to the best interests of the community and state.

The funeral services held from his late home, were well attended and conducted by the Rev. F. J. SCOATES (Methodist), Collingwood, who delivered a comforting service to those who mourned their departed relative and friend. Interment was in the Glenville Cemetery beside his beloved wife, who was Miss Agnes COLBURN, of River Philip and only predeceased her husband a short time ago. The pallbearers were chosen fromthe members of the Knights of Pythias Lodge, Springhill, of which order the deceased was a faithful member and brother. [Other family members apparently belonged to this organization.] They were as follows:Harold BRAGG, H.S. TERRIS, Chas MURRAY and Walter SCHURMAN.Several beautiful floral offerings including a handsome wreath from the order were placed upon his casket by loving friends.A family of six sons, George in Calgary, Alex and Harry in the Southern States, William in Clarmount, Angus in Springhill and Charles at River Philip and one daughter, Grace of Montreal are left to mourn their kind and loving father, who has just crossed over the river, beyond the tide. One son, Archibald, who served in the Great War, died only a few years ago.)

Robert Stanley McDonald (b. River Philip in 1897; d. Vancouver, BC in 1970) and Annie [Steels or Johnson] McDonald - Fred's parents [Robert & Annie moved to Winnipeg, where they eventually divorced. Robert remarried to a Florence MacDonald - nee Green - and moved to Vancouver, B.C.]

After 10 years of research, we still haven't been able to "jump the pond" and locate where this family originated in Scotland. For my husband's mother's 65th birthday, we would love to be able to present her with her family tree (as complete as possible) which includes the ancestors in Scotland.

It's been 6 years since I originally posted my message on this forum (under the username mcdmacd04), and I am no further ahead in breaking down the very stubborn brick wall I have come up against whilst researching my hubby's MacDonald/McDonald ancestors. I have accumulated a fair amount more information about Archibald MacDonald's descendants, but still have not managed to confirm his parentage and the who, when, where and how his parents arrived in Nova Scotia. Any assistance with this most frustrating puzzle most welcomed. Thanks!

I've checked these links (spent many hours researching these records) and haven't come up with any more leads. As I mentioned in my posting, I have a lot of information going forward from Archibald, but nothing more about his parents. Archibald may have had a brother John (born prior to him) and a sister Isabelle. Wondering if anyone has documented all of the gravesites in Hillcrest Cemetery, as this may be where the majority of the clues are.